


Wondering

by nambnb



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-05
Updated: 2012-08-19
Packaged: 2018-09-21 20:00:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9564122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nambnb/pseuds/nambnb
Summary: Stuff I was wondering about while watching the show during 2012.





	1. To Meet A Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kotetsu was a child when he met Mr. Legend for the first time. But why was a boy from Oriental Town in Sternbild in the first place - and all alone as well? Trying to answer these questions here.

How had it come to this?

Why did these robbers have to break into this bank of all places and why did he have to be there when it happened?

Kotetsu was alone in a huge city and just wanted to go home. But maybe he was going to be shot the next second, like in this action movie he had seen in secret once. The thought scared him but at the same time he felt a big fury inside himself arise. These robbers were bad people. It would be another story if they bothered only him, he was used to being bullied by now, but there were women and children crying around him. No use for him to cry as well in all of this mess.

 

Still, he wished he just could go home. Even his mother's scolding would be better than this situation he was in right now. Surely she would believe him that he was not at fault this time, would she? He hadn't hurt anybody this time after all!

All he had tried to do was withdrawing some of his savings from his bank book, so he could pay for a train ticket back home. But the nice lady at the counter had told him that it was impossible to withdraw money without having his bank book at hand. But he had nothing at hand literally, save for a strip of chewing gum in his pants pocket. Not knowing what to do, he had lingered a moment too long at the Bank of Sternbild and then these robbers had stormed the room and had taken all of the people in there hostage, him included.

 

All of this would not have happened to him if his classmates hadn't played this prank on him and shoved him into the train to Sternbild while he had tried to hide from them. He had run away from them all day long since leaving school. They had spit pellets of paper at his face and laughed behind his back and called him names at school, even if they were best friends the day before. But the day before he hadn't broken the arm of one of his classmates by playing dodgeball. He had thrown the ball at the boy without recognizing that his powers had turned on and the boy's arm had snapped with a horrible sound.

He hated those powers. They popped up in the weirdest situations and he ended up breaking countless things and getting scolded for it.

But it wasn't his fault! He didn't switch those powers on at will! He didn't want to hurt people and he didn't want to break things!

 

Not even his mother believed him, he was sure of that. She had to bow infront of dozens of people lately, apologizing for her son to them. And when she turned to look at him, she just made a sorrowful face. Kotetsu was sure she hated him by now. Who would want a kid like him, if all he could do was to break things because of this stupid power of his? Nobody! Surely nobody would ever accept him again in his life!

 

Maybe it would serve him just right to be shot by one of these burglars who fired their ammunition in the air to get a hearing from the scared audience and yelled "Nobody move!" at them.

He hated those men. Why did they have to scare all of these people so much? Didn't they see that they were frightened enough already?

Assholes!

 

Looking around he saw a mother clutching her son to her chest. Her hands wer tied, just like everybody else's, but she still tried to somehow protect him. Kotetsu wondered whether his mother would bother doing that for him as well, if she were here. But his mother was miles and miles away, in Oriental Town. Surely, she hadn't even recognized that he was missing. Who would miss a kid that brought you so much trouble after all. She was probably happy not to have to bow to anybody at the moment. Maybe Kotetsu should just stay here and try to live by himself, if he got out of here alive.

 

Suddenly, the windows broke and an old man in a red-blue suit with a cape entered the scene, telling the burglars to stop when landing on the floor. Weirdly enough, the robbers seemed to be intimidated by his appearance, even though the old man was completely unarmed. An older man next to him cried "It's Mr. Legend!" and seemed overjoyed to see him, like the rest of the audience who strangely cheered up. Who was this guy?

One of the burglars panicked and shot his whole load at the man in the cape, but the bullets bounced off his shining body.

 

He was shining!

With a blue light!

This was just like Kotetsu's own power!

Was he the same as him? Now he even knocked the burglars out, just by screaming!  
  
But while Kotetsu admired the strange old man, one of the burglars grabbed him rudely by the collar of his jacket, yanked him up and took him hostage.

"Don't you care what happens to this kid?" the man yelled, all while holding a gun at Kotetsu's temple. The weird old man surely didn't care! He didn't move after al! Nobody cared at all! Fighting against the tears welling up in his eyes, he tried to free himself to run away, not recognizing that his powers had switched on and he had sent the burglar flying against the next counter.

 

Oh no, he had done it again! The man didn't move! What if he had killed somebody this time?

Kotetsu slumped to the ground where he stood and drew up his knees.

The weird old man in the colourful suit mumbled "You're a..." before reaching out a hand to him.

You're a what? A murderer? Kotetsu flinched at the hand pointed towards him and told the old man not to touch him, since he was not supposed to touch anyone when he was shining like this. His mother had caned that into his head just the night before. And Kotetsu didn't want to hurt him, too.

 

But the suit-guy just asked "And why is that?" while smiling at him. Maybe he had never hurt somebody by accident before. So Kotetsu told him that he'll hurt people if he touched him, shining like he did.

 

"You've got it wrong.", the cape-man said to Kotetsu's surprise and he added with a smile still plastered on his face with his hand balled into a fist:

"Your power is meant to save people."

 

Saving... people?

Not hurting them?

Could Kotetsu really believe that?

Saving people by using his power?

Like the old man had done it?

 

As if to prove him right, nothing bad happend when the boy allowed the man in the red-blue suit to help him up. The light even vanished.

Kotetsu couldn't believe his ears when the man told him, that he had saved him, which would make him a hero, too.

A hero! So this guy was a hero and Kotetsu was a hero, too, now? Really?

Kotetsu couldn't stop smiling and shared a thumb-up bro fist with the man in the suit.

No, his name was Mr. Legend, right?

Mr. Legend - Kotetsu's personal hero!

 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

SNAP!

 

Kotetsu saw stars. The flash of the camera was just too bright. He didn't really understand why he had to stand there being photographed, but since Mr. Legend had asked him to take a picture with him, Kotetsu set up his best grin while getting his hair ruffled by the hero. The article would be headlined: "Heroic boy helps Mr. Legend stop robbery" and everyone at Sternbild could read it the next day.

The next day...

 

As soon as the interview was done (Kotetsu had mostly just stammered, so Mr. Legend had to describe the situation in his stead), it dawned to the young boy that he still had to get home but was still peniless. He sighed heavily. Maybe he could bring home some good news now, but how to get there?

 

Mr. Legend, who was just about to head out, heard his young friend and turned around again.

"What is it, boy? You don't look very happy."

 

"It's nothing, I just have no money to get on the train back home. They won't let me withdraw any of my savings, so I'm stuck here it seems."

 

"You didn't bring any money with you when you got here?"

 

Kotetsu showed a tensed up smile and looked away.

"I didn't plan to get here, my classmates shoved me on the train and it was a train headed straight to Sternbild with no halt in between." Mr. Legend seemed puzzled and Kotetsu realized he probably shouldn't bother a hero with things like this.

"Sorry to keep you from your work, Mr. Legend. I'll find another way home. Maybe I can walk there. I just don't know the direction. Could you please tell me which way it is to Oriental Town?"

 

"Oriental Town is quite far away, boy, so I'll see you home personally."

 

"What?"  
  
"It's the least I can do, you saved me after all." He smiled his trusting smile again, but Kotetsu protestet.

 

"No! I mean, you have work to do, right? There are people to be saved, aren't there? I cannot bother you with this!"

 

"Boy", he kneeled down and took Kotetsu's hand between his own, "how old are you?"

 

Kotetsu didn't get what Mr. Legend's point was, but he answered him honestly. "I'm ten years old, Sir."

 

"Right, you are a kid and I am an adult. Isn't it the job of an adult to look out for a kid?"

 

"But you don't have to do this. You aren't my dad or something like this."

 

"No, but your parents aren't here at the moment. I will either call your parents so they can come for you, or I'll escort you home."

 

Calling at home? But that would mean his mother would have to take the trip to Sternbild just to pick him up. Surely, she would bow infront of Mr. Legend and tell him what a miserable child Kotetsu was at home. No, no, no, no!  
"I'll take your offer, Mr. Legend."

 

"Hm, maybe I should inform you that usually, kids would go crazy if Mr. Legend offered to escort them home."

 

"Eh?" Kotetsu's confusion only deeped the furrow between his eyebrows.

 

Mr. Legend put his forefingers to either side of Kotetsu's corner of the mouth and pushed them up.

"I miss a smile on your face, boy. Come on, I won't bite you."

 

The old man offered him a hand and Kotetsu tried for a smile as he grabbed it and let Mr. Legend lead him out of the bank.

 

The ride back to Oriental Town seemed way shorter to Kotetsu than his trip to Sternbild City. Not to mention this time he didn't have to be afraid to be caught by the ticket inspector while riding a train with no money.

His mother ran out of the house when she recognized that a car had stopped infront of her house, before they even got the chance to walk to the door. She stormed over to Kotetsu and hugged him while showering him with questions of "Where have you been? I was so worried!" while crying. She only stopped when Mr. Legend stepped infront of her and explained what had happened. She looked like she couldn't quite believe him, but thanked him to have brought her son home nevertheless.

 

Kotetsu waved as the car of his new hero took off in the direction of Sternbild again. Maybe one day he would return to this city and do the same job as him.


	2. Bits And Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened on the Christmas Eve when Barnaby's parents were killed from the murderer's point of view? How did he even manage to get a hold of Barnaby to overwrite his memories? And how did Barnaby grew up and what was he made to remember instead? Trying to find answers to those questions.

It was Christmas NC 1957 when Maverick's best friends had found out that he had teamed up with a criminal organisation and had supplied them with weapons built from the technology the scientist couple had developed, so his Hero TV show would become more exciting. And they wanted him to atone for his sins by making everything public.

Were they kidding?  
He had done his best to convince said public that Heroes - scratch that - NEXTs were at least as good as them, if not better due to their enhanced powers. And now he should confess his crimes so they would scorn him and his work and maybe the press would find out about him being a NEXT, too, and all he had worked so hard for until now would go down the drain?  
He knew he couldn't bribe them to keep their mouth shut, they had too much money on hand as it was already. And he couldn't argue his way out, they were way too straightforward people. What was he supposed to do to silence them? Maybe he could somehow knock them out and overwrite their memories?

While he still sat there and wracked his brain what to do next, his eyes caught sight of Barnaby senior taking off the telephone's receiver from its hook.  
His mind decided then that this was the moment their friendship ended. He jumped out of his seat, lunged out and got lit candles plus man knocked to the floor in a second. Quite interesting what adrenaline could do to the body if one was only excited enough. He didn't wait for the woman to cry out her husband's name, nor for said husband to recover from the hit as he shot one bullet through each of their hearts.  
A shame, really, but a necessary evil on his way to rebuilt society. Now what should he tell the police? A robbery story?  
Wait.  
There was something in the corner of his eyes.  
Was someone watching him?

The smoke of his gun hadn't even blown off yet as he turned to the side, looking into the widely opened eyes of his dead friends' kid while the flames spreading from the knocked over candles started to engulf the whole room and the mourning singer of the opera from the background music got to its tragic dramatic climax.  
A climax, indeed, the brat had turned around an ran for it now.

The boy must have seen him fire his gun at his parents, no use in telling a lie about some robber if there was a witness to this murder. He had to hunt him down, too.  
The stupid kid had chosen the way up to his room instead of the way out through the front door, but Maverick had to admit the brat could run really fast, since he only heard the door slam shut on the second floor. But still, did he forget that Maverick WAS the best friend of his parents and knew the layout of the house like the palm of his hand? And as if some door, locked or not, could stop Maverick from getting into his room. Well, there was the way of force or the way of trust. Maybe he hadn't really seen him being the aggressor.

"Barnaby, are you in there? It's me, uncle Maverick." He tried to sound as friendly as possible, while he cocked his weapon again.  
"Get away! You shot mommy! And surely you killed daddy, too!"  
So he HAD seen him, a pity, really. So it would be a tragic family murder without anybody surviving the attack of the 'robber'.

As mentioned before, there was the way of force now. But the door seemed very solid and shooting a lock and then kicking the door in was only something for tv cops to do. So, what resort of 'trust' did he have left?  
"I see, you don't want to talk to me. I'm going to look for Ms. Samantha next, then. If I remember correctly her address was--"  
The door was slammed open and the kid stood there and hollered to him: "Don't you hurt Aunt Samantha!"  
How did the boy manage to run up to the door so fast without Maverick even hearing him? Well, didn't matter, he had aimed and shot already. The kid would fall to the floor and-- Why was he still standing? The kid had only lifted up his arm to his face in defense!

Maverick shot again - useless.  
Had his damn parents designed some sort of armored jacket for the kid that he was STILL not going down?  
He got the boy by the collar of his jacket, yanked him up against the doorframe and held the gun directly to his throat to fire again.  
The bullet bounced off of him and got stuck to the opposite doorframe instead.

When he looked back to the kid in wonder, he finally recognized the blue glow in the teary eyes of Barnaby. He was a NEXT, God dammit! Why hadn't he noticed before? The adrenaline still rushed in his blood, but it only served in stimulating his muscles instead of his brain until now. But as the realisation finally sunk in, Maverick became impressed and grinned like a madman as his brain overflowed with ideas. What a powerful kind of a NEXT the kid was! With Legend starting to get less attention and new Heroes needed urgently, how could he let a chance like that slip through his fingers?  
Not to mention, now that he thought about it, a good reason for letting the brat alive was his considerable fortune which might prove useful as a way to start some business with the Ouroborous organisation again, maybe he could even buy into it. His maddening grin spread wider and wider as he summed up all the possibilties while the child struggled against his hold without success. Well, rebound ability had its disadvantages, too, as one might have seen with Mr. Legend, but still...

Little Barnaby started to roar and his runny eyes glowed even more furiously as he seemed to pool all his strengths to escape Maverick's hold. Surprisingly, he was able to slap away Maverick's hand and to shove him into the next wall very hard, before he started to run for it again. This was no rebounding power, was it? Maverick thought as he shook his head in dizziness and had a look at the kid runnig very fast to the front door this time. The man took aim at the door now and fired a shot yet again to scare the boy who hesitated for a moment and dared to look back to his 'uncle', who had managed to get back on his feet. Regaining his senses, the boy tried to pull the doorhandle again, as he suddenly collapsed and slid down to the floor with a moan. He did so without Maverick's assistance, though, which surprised the man yet again.

Stashing his gun to the inner pocket of his jacket while walking over to the boy, Maverick took note of the fire spreading farther and farther around the house the longer it burned. Well, he had no desire for keeping the house anyway, but the growing amount of smoke started to get annoying. He pressed a handkerchief to his mouth and finally arrived next to the boy who still lay there face down without moving a muscle. He slowly turned him over with his foot and saw the kid had broken out in quite a sweat and breathed heavily. Maybe holding up the NEXT power had taken its toll on the kid's body. Whatever the reason, the flames started to flare up from the living room and would soon burn the whole house down. Maverick unceremoniously flicked the kid over his shoulder and opened and closed the front door like a gentleman would.

He should call the fire brigade and the police, there was fire and a crime had taken place here after all. What was it again? Oh yes, a robbery, oh he should have taken some jewellery to make it more believeable then. Maybe Maverick had come over to visit his friends' house for Christmas Eve and surprised the robber as he was about to shoot the kid who had seen the killing. Maverick had scared him away with his gun, but oh, the flames had been too high already to get to the Barnaby's when he saw them in the living room on his way back. He was only able to safe the son from the flames, yes. Dramatic, heroic, just the way that he wanted it. And with the kid being unconscious now, it would be easy enough to create a witness for Maverick's view on the events. After all, what good was it to be a NEXT with the ability to implant new memories if one didn't use it occasionally to give oneself an edge from time to time?

No, no, wait, that scenario still had too many flaws. The worst were the bullets left inside the corpses and in the doorframe of Barnaby's room. Even if he could get rid of the gun, the thing was still accredited to him. The police could look it up without problems and then telling them the robber had the same gun by coincidence wouldn't look too good. No, no, he needed a watertight alibi, but what would be good?  
The kid stirred in his sleep and startled him like hell, but he only murmured the name of the old lady that took care of him and otherwise functioned as a housekeeper for his family. The boy had taken a stroll with her if Maverick remembered correctly. At least that was what his parents had told him before the discussion went from Christmas presents to his involvement with a certain criminal syndicate.

Wait, what? Samantha knew of him visiting, too. He had greeted her before she went out with the kid to spent Christmas with him (or, more likely, to prevent Barnaby from listening to the ugly conversation between him and his parents). So he had to kill her, too, after all? He had only bluffed about that before.  
But wait!  
He still could make that work!  
Samantha had the alibi he wanted and Barnaby would be the perfect witness for said alibi. All he needed to do was to overwrite her memories, too. Talking an old lady like her into letting him into her house would not be a big deal. And it was winter, right? People caught colds during winter. Colds prevented people from taking a stroll on the outside.  
Wasn't that scenario just perfect?

Barnaby turned in his sleep again, so Maverick better hurried to implant the new memories' to the kid. He had still to call the police and maybe some ambulance after all, since the poor, poor kid didn't feel so good now. While he overwrote what Barnaby later would be able to recollect from the incident, another idea struck Maverick and he used it to give the 'robber' the identity of a member of a certain criminal organisation who liked to tattoo a serpent eating its own tail to their body. The murderer's hand holding the gun would have to do for that place.


	3. The Sash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bunny pondering about what happened at his 2nd clash with Lunatic.

His fingers stroked over the material of the white sash in his hands, the burned edges crumbling to ash under his touch. The letters ‘Let’s believe’ were still readable on the white textile underground framed with red on its edges.  
Red.  
It was still a red moon.  
For everyone else who looked up the sky tonight, this would just be another phenomena of sunlight, but for Barnaby Brooks Jr. it meant something more sinister.

The feeling of failure ate on his insides - failing as a Hero, but more importantly, failing as a human being.  
He could still hear the blurred howl of the ambulance taking his partner to the closest hospital.  
The night’s wind was cold against his skin. But feeling cold on the outside was still way better than freezing from the inside out. And it had felt like that, in the moment when his adrenaline had frozen from one moment to the next.

Why had he been unable to move like a deer caught in the headlights tonight?  
Probably because he had been scared stiff due to a trauma of flames. And that man infront of him had practically bursted with flames. Blue, sizzling, devastating flames seemed to make out his whole being. And that grotesque grinning mask of a madman made looking at him not any more soothing.  
It was an entirely different matter to chase after a flame throwing criminal and ducking away under his attacks during pursuit, and being the target of a flamed arrow directly aimed at your head.  
At least it differed for Barnaby.  
And he had made the same mistake once already. Back then his partner saved him before Lunatic could throw his arrow at him. But this time he had already fired his arrow, the blue flames zooming closer with every millisecond that seemed to stretch like aeons...

He shouldn’t have looked.  
He shouldn’t have stared.  
He should have moved the moment his enemy reloaded his fiery weapon and aimed at him already.  
But he didn’t do anything and only just watched until his partner took the shot for him, and still watched when he fell – seemingly in slow motion – to hit the ground hard.  
While shock had tied him to the ground for an unbearable amount of seconds, this sensation yanked him out of his stiffness. But while still trying to comprehend the situation, his partner had moved again, landed a hit on the enemy’s face just to break down to his knees the moment he landed on the pavement again.

First, first, what came first in this kind of situation?  
Taking out the enemy or tending to the injured?  
Wasn’t he already standing next to his partner asking him how he was doing?  
So this came first after all...  
Spiced up again by the mere fact that his partner was injured, he turned around only to be stopped by said partner. HE told HIM to calm down, while Lunatic only spouted out provoking nonsense.

How could the old man be so calm? And why had he felt the other man’s hand so hot on his cold skin the moment he had touched him? And Lunatic was still there, some mere feet away, daring to mock his partner’s foolish ideals that had saved Barnaby’s neck a moment ago.  
And then he understood: The old man wasn’t more calm than Barnaby himself when he heard him shout a declaration of war in Lunatic’s face as an answer.

Agitated, he still wanted to pursue the enemy when his powers ran out, clearly telling him it made no sense anymore. And looking at the old man, he didn’t show how much a burn by flames even hotter than Fire Emblem’s could hurt – even when taking the hit with his Hundred Power switched on.

While helping the other to get much needed medical aid, his thoughts still swirled unsettling in his mind.  
Why had the other bothered to save him after he had treated him so miserably until now?  
Only a few days ago he had blamed him for loosing a lead to his parent’s murderer, too.  
But still, the old man had the nerve to try cheering HIM up, even when he was loaded inside of an ambulance and it was entirely Barnaby’s fault that he was hurt in the first place.

What an unbelievable guy this naive man was.

Barnaby’s fingers stroked his partner’s burned sash in a caressing way.  
‘“Let’s believe”, huh?’, he grinned in a sad way with his brows furrowed and his mouth trapped in a stretch between a grief and joy.


	4. Your Fist isn't what's hurting me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiger and Bunny fighting on the cruiser with Bunny fully intending to kill Kotetsu. Time set after Episode 22, before Episode 23 was released, so it's not in line with the actual plot of the episode, beware!

They clashed against each other in midair, their good-luck-mode converted suit parts hitting each other – giant battering ram of a fist against giant stamper of a heel. The fierce attack’s force of the blow doubled, since both hundred power enhanced men hit each other at the same time, and propelled both heros right against the cruiser’s top deck.

The ship toppled under the impact, nearly sinking up to the prow, before snapping back in its former position with a nausea-causing sway and the waves splashing high around it. People screamed in fear, the ones being on deck clutched to the railing in an attempt to save themselves from going over board.

 

Tiger shook his head and tried to get up from the crashed splintering wood he had to use to put a stop to himself, when he heard a woman crying for her kid to have fallen overboard.

The moment he wanted to start up to the rescue, a foot sweep sent him flat on his back again. Having barely time to let out a groan, he had to roll aside to avoid a punch that now struck the wooden deck, cracking even more floorboards.

Bunny snapped at him. “Better focus on your opponent!”

“Can’t you hear this?! There are people needing our help!” Tiger tried a crouch start but was grabbed by the shoulder and punched hard in the face.

“Stop it!” Tiger wrestled himself free of Bunny’s hold, following up with a face punch himself.  “You can kick my ass, AFTER I saved that kid!“ Not waiting for another argument to arise, Tiger dived right into the water, while the child’s mother clung helplessly to the railing and shouted for him to rescue her son.

Groaning over his aching head, Bunny could not shake off his irritation. Why would this guy  bother to save anyone?

 

The water splashed around Wild Tiger while he grabbed the kid and aimed for the railing with his wire. Seconds later he could hand over the boy to his mother’s arms, who cuddled him with a relieving cry. Enjoying the scene for a second too long, Tiger could not avoid the spin hook kick aimed at his face and was pushed against the railing. Shaking his head he shouted at the startled woman. “Get away as fast as you can!”

Not waiting for the woman or Tiger do move even a muscle, Bunny rushed forward to grab Tiger’s throat while closing in for another punch. “Don’t screw with me!” The blow was so hard Tiger had barely survived without his hundred power activated and the suit shielding him from the worst damage.

“What are you trying to achieve by rescuing people after killing aunt Samantha?!”

Another blow.

“Trying to convince me to believe your hero crap?!”

Harder.

“Don’t fuck with me!”

His hand stopped.

 

Tiger had grabbed him by the wrist, with his own hand shaking in the effort to keep Bunny’s fist away from him. “Calm down, Barnaby! I said I didn’t do it! When will that finally sink in?”

Only the visor shielded Tiger from Bunny’s deathly glare and the bitten curse that emitted as a sharp hiss from beyond his helmet. His arm still fought against Tiger’s hold, his muscles shaking with tension.

“Listen to me, dammit! Why would I even dare to lay a hand on that nice old woman? I have no motif! No reason at all!” Bunny snarled, fighting him. Winning this fight of will against Tiger seemed to be more important than using his usual kicks to decide this round.

“Besides, I would NEVER EVER kill anybody! Whom do I have to always remember that protecting people comes first, eh?!”

Tiger’s fist hit his partner’s stomach hard enough to make him gasp for breath, before falling over. Why didn’t Bunny see this coming?

“Sorry for that.” Tiger kneeled down next to him trying to open his partner’s visor, but failed with his new suit’s design. Sighing, he opened his own helmet, and looked at him with troubled eyes behind his mask. “Come on, don’t be so stubborn. At least open that damn helmet so you can catch your breath properly. I know how sticky the air gets in there even with the ventilation working.”

 

If he could only kick that guy’s ass! But Bunny’s stomach hurt so badly, that he squirmed with pain. The other must have hit a good spot, since it hurt that much even when proteced by the armored suit. And Bunny was in no position to raise his leg high enough to kick his enemy.

Tiger gave him a pitying look. “Even if you won’t open it, I know exactly how you look now: Like a wounded animal, ready to bite the hand of the one trying to save you.”

“I don’t need you to save me!” Bunny gasped in pain and grabbed his stomach harder, earning himself a sigh from Tiger and a light patting on his suit’s head. Since Tiger was unable to pet his forehead for real - he hoped the gesture would count.

 

Tiger could not look at his timer but he had a feeling that his power might run out at any moment now. What would he do if Bunny lunged another attack at him? The suit would at least absorb more damage than his old one. But it was still about one minute and fifteen seconds that could end in serious pain and injuries. Would he be hospitalized again? With Kaede crying at his bedside this time? And where would he wake up then? At the police’s hospital?

He sighed heavily again and stared sadly at the point where Bunny’s eyes should be.

Even if his friends remembered him now, he still got the major problem right infront of him: His partner wanted to kill him for good. And nothing seemed to be able to convince him of his innocense.

Absentmindedly, he continued to pat Bunny’s head.

“Stop that nonsense!” Bunny tried to get his head away from the man’s hand.

“Don’t you have the guts to kill me?! Was quite easy to beat an old woman to death with a fireplace poker, huh? But killing a guy in a mechanical suit laying on the ground won’t do?!”

That sentence earned him an angry flick to his forehead by Tiger’s finger.

“Be quiet, I’m trying to think here.”

“Think! As if a lowlife like you would be able to process something like thoughts in your head!”

“Stop bickering at me! What would you do if you were framed for murder and nobody would believe you in spite of not having done it?” He gesticulated wildly. “So Maverick used his NEXT-powers to manipulate you. But I don’t even know if he only screwed with your memories or fucked up your mind for good, since you don’t stop to think anymore.” He folded his arms, leaning over Bunny with a preaching look. “What’s wrong with you, Barnaby? You didn’t even rush into the scene when we thought Jake was right infront of us in his hideout. Heck, I did and got us into serious trouble. But you kept your cool and saw that something was off about him. Why can’t you use that super analysing power on me now to see the truth, huh?”

 

What was that idiot babbling about? Maverick being a NEXT? Him having his memory messed with? The pain seemed to have faded enough to strike at this annoying guy again. What kind of attack should he use? The other was wide open by now. Normally, he would have worked out something already, but he had made the mistake to listen to the man’s blather. Why did he even do that in the first place? ‘Not thinking anymore’? He was thinking quite too much for his own taste.

Sixty seconds left before his power’s countdown hit zero.

 

“Ne, Barnaby—“ The kick was hard and tossed Tiger all over the deck, making him crash into one of the cabins. Bunny had aimed at his head and Tiger painfully realised that his power had run out by now. Groaning in distress, he tried to get himself in an upright position and hoped for his vision to clear again.

Bunny growled with every step he took towards him.

“Not only aunt Samantha, now it’s Maverick, too. If you dare so much as lay a finger on him I swear I won’t only kill you but tear you to shreds!”

He grabbed Tiger’s head and pulled him up until the old man’s feet barely reached the ground anymore. The older man was literally standing on his toes, grabbing the other’s outstretched arm in an effort to balance himself.

Bunny punched him hard in the stomach as payback for having tasted that pain before. The strike pressed the air out of Tiger’s lungs and he struggled for oxygen. But he had no time to recover, since the next blow followed with Bunny’s elbow hitting the same spot. As Bunny’s hand let go of his opponent Tiger blinked at him for mercy, but Bunny finished his attack with a roundhouse kick at Tiger’s head, sending the old man flying against the already damaged wall of the cabin.

 

Tiger realised his grave error of having his visor removed as he slid off the wall and felt blood trickle down his broken nose. He convulsed and spit blood, probably from some internal bleeding. At least one rib seemed to have finally cracked as well. He was lucky to still be conscious and  breathing, although flatly.

Bunny put his foot on Tiger’s chest.

“How does it feel to be clubbed to death?”

He leaned forward, his weight pushing down on Tiger.

“Ne? What do you think? Painful enough?”

Supporting his elbow on his thigh with his head resting on his hand put even more pressure on his victim. Tiger fought for air, tried to move Bunny’s foot away from his ribcage in a fruitless attempt and finally gave up. He looked up at his tormentor, staring deep at the spot where he assumed his eyes to be, and tried to form words, that could only be heard as suffocated gasps.

 

Who was this guy? What did he do with his partner? Had Maverick ripped Bunny’s heart out and replaced it with a stone? He knew that Bunny was hurt. He knew that he could rage. But normally, that rage would be like a hot fire and not like a cold spear of ice piercing those around him with such malice.

Tears began running down his cheeks. It hurt. It hurt to see Bunny like this. It hurt to have his bones broken. It hurt to think of not seeing his family or his friends ever again. He knew for sure by now: Bunny was going to kill him.

“Crying now? Begging for mercy? You make me sick.” He lifted his feet from Tiger’s chest  only to rise it high up in the air and prepared for a determining kick, that would probably come down too hard for anyone to survive.

“...Bun...ny... Don’t...” Tiger rasped at pains. “Don’t go down... this path.”

Barnaby stopped moving in midair.

What did he just say?

“You are... a hero... remember? Don’t become... a murderer now... Please... Bunny... listen to this... old man... at least once.”

 

“You have got some nerves worrying about others and giving me weird nicknames while spouting your last words, old man.”

Wait.

What was that?

That guy was worrying about him? And what did his age matter now?

No, it wasn’t exactly ‘age’ that concerned him, it was that nickname he gave him.

He lost his composure, grabbed his head and took a step back. A headache struck him. Why? What was wrong now all of a sudden? What was—

 

“Bunny...?” The beaten up man groaned from his corner. “...Are you... okay...?”

“Hehe, be happy to live a bit longer instead of worrying about me, old man.”

Again.

It was like a habit.

He needed to get himself together.  
This man infront of him was Kaburagi T. KotetsueHHe n, murderer of his beloved aunt Samantha and—No, something was off! Old man Kotetsu would never do something like this. But where did that sudden sureness come from, for God’s sake? He wanted to kill him a moment ago!

Frustrating!  
Humiliating!  
Throttling!

He needed fresh air. Off with the double-layered visor, off with the helmet!

He took a deep breath.

 

Suddenly, looking at the man he had beaten to a pulp hurt his soul. He lay there like a blade of grass somebody had trampled on with all his might. And he, Bunny himself, was that somebody.

Wait, what’s with the Bunny-nickname again?

“Bunny... have you... calmed down...?”

The old man had barely enough breath to stay alive, he shouldn’t talk.

Why was he even concerned with this now? It felt like something was at the tip of his tongue and he couldn’t name it. Like he was supposed to know something he didn’t. He caught himself wishing to comfort the old man now, to say he was sorry for hurting him. But the reason kept being hidden behind a cloud of infiltrating headaches.

 

Barnaby slumped down where he stood with a sigh and stared at Kaburagi T. Kotetsu. The man he could not bring himself to kill, even when he was only one strike away from achieving his sworn goal of revenge. At least arresting him would be no problem anymore.

 

“Ne, old man, what did you do to me? My head feels like mush and the pain is hammering so  hard in there I feel like my skull could crack open any minute.” He looked like a lost, distraught kid hoping for help with his lopsided sneer and empty eyes. Tiger tried to lift one arm in his direction. But the pain had engulfed his whole body by now. He needed all his strength to keep his arm at a level slightly above of his knee with his hand reaching out for Bunny and a crooked smile on his bleeding lips.

The seconds while Bunny tried to figure out the intentions of the other man seemed to stretch like ages for the wounded. He was on the verge of giving up, when Bunny finally started to skid over to him.

 

Barnaby did not think about it, he just did not feel any danger coming from that man now, even if he were to touch him. He moved close enough to sit next to him and grabbed Tiger’s hand while staring blankly at his face. The old man grinned – slightly off – and then murmured something.  
“...ed.”

“Huh?”

“Head...”

“’Head’?”

Tiger nodded slowly and tried to give Bunny a sign with his eyes.

Without thinking, Bunny put Tiger’s hand on his head, since he remembered the old man trying to pet him before.

Tiger smiled happily and stroke Bunny’s locks slowly.

“Good boy...”

 

Bunny cried.

 

There lay his gentle idiot of a partner, trying to comfort him after all he had done to him.

 

Why did it hurt so badly to remember him when it was so easy to forget all about him?


End file.
